El Toro_Ryan

they open it with just the front rows and progressively move back to full trains once it's warmed up. It reduces the chance of a rollback if all the weight is at the front. If Dragster's PLC is anything like Xcelerator's, it takes the average weight of every 5 launches to determine how much power is needed to get the train up to the 79.5mph that is required for a train to clear the top hat. I remember back when I worked Xcelerator a short shot was guaranteed if you completely filled a train early in the morning. Same was to be said at the end of the day. We had to slowly close off 1 row at a time for the last 10 trains or so of the day to prevent a "Catch car overtravel" fault when you sent the 1st empty train to bring the last train of guests back into the station. Top Thrill Dragsters computer uses the speed that the previous train crest the tower to determine the speed needed to launch the next train to get it to clear at a similar speed. That's why in the morning the progressively load the trains to keep the weight variance small enough that it doesn't cause a roll back, or over speed. Interesting. I work Kingda Ka and it uses the same method Top Thrill Dragster does to determine the launch speed but we don't have to load just the front rows in the morning. We actually can't run the ride if more than 6 seats are empty at any given time. The launch is calibrated to launch full trains over the tower pretty consistently but we can't launch empty trains with a regular launch. We have to press a launch boost button for an empty train or else it rolls back. I think the boosted trains launch about 3 or 4 mph faster than the regularly launched trains do. Do Dragster and Xcelerator have the same thing or no?

El Toro will be open. The necessary maintenance was completed the day the ride was closed. It was closed all day on Monday and reopened the following day. Also the park has been pretty empty the last few weekdays. If you have the chance, I'd try and hit the park up soon, like this and next week before the schools around here get out.

That's interesting. Did you roll all the way back to the first set of LIMs? Yup! Haha All the way back to where the first launch starts. It took like 10 minutes of crawling through the magnets and then maintenance evacuated us from the ride. It was pretty cool honestly.

We'll be here tomorrow but there's no guarantee the ride will be open. We're praying though.

I've been at the park all day and I haven't see I305 run once. It's pretty disappointing since it's half the reason why I came here, but the park is completely empty though and my group has been re-riding everything. We even got a rollback on Volcano on our first ride of the day. Does anyone know how often Volcano rolls back? We asked one of the attendants and he said this was only the second time he's seen it rollback this year. ^Also, I agree. Shockwave's restraints are absolutely awful. I managed to bash my jaw on the shoulder restraints. The airtime is pretty decent though but everything else about the ride sucks.

Did I miss it? or did they not include pricing? It's $135 for 4 days (2 at Busch/Water Country USA and 2 at Kings Dominion) or $106 for one day at Busch and one at Kings Dominion. http://wtvr.com/2015/05/05/kings-dominion-busch-gardens-deal/

You should be totally fine. I'm 6,3, 200 and fit just fine though I'm very close to being too tall to ride it. At 6'5" am I too tall? I believe the max height at the ride is 6'4" but I know of people taller than that who have ridden before. Idk how strict the park is with the height limit.

Haha the megaphone position isn't permanent but it might be around for the next few weeks. Btw, that guy's name is Matt! He's one of my co-workers.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet but the rusted water tower was finally repainted. Here's how it looks. Picture from Greatadventurehistory.com

One train operations were the norm during spring break but I can assure you the ride almost always runs with two trains now. As for the crew, they just need more time to get adjusted. Toro's crew this year is almost entirely new.

Generally, it's two launches between Zumanjaro dispatches. When we have three trains running, we can get two trains out no problem. When we only have two, sometimes we can only launch one depending on the timing between the ride cycles.

Unfortunately, there are not. Until the state allows Zumanjaro and Ka to run simultaneously, Ka's 4th train is pretty much useless. Three trains is all the ride needs to get it's max throughput with Zumanjaro in the picture.

In other news, Kingda Ka is back to three train operations. I believe Bizarro is as well.

I'm with you. I've never found GL or Mantis rough or uncomfortable either really.

This was that "old" pathway I was trying to hint at earlier. haha Expect it to be open on busy days or when the park is using the picnic grove area.

To everyone complaining about the slow operations today, you have to keep in mind a good majority of the employees are completely new and need a grace period to adjust to running the rides with people. It's not the easiest thing to do, it takes a lot of time and practice. Cut them some slack. Operations today may have not been the best but expect them to improve greatly as all the employees settle into their positions.

I think you guys will appreciate the announcement. That's all I'm saying about it. Haha

Emphasis on "old", as in "Old Country"? Are you allowed to give any more details? You'll see for yourself when the park opens in a few weeks There are actually no immediate plans to fix up the parking lot. Doing so would cost 10 million apparently and it's not something the park wants to invest in at the moment.

Expect an "old" pathway to reopen this season (extra emphasis on the word old).

Lol yeah that was the easiest way to empty the dummies. Although most of the time last year, we would empty the dummies by hand on the holding brake which was always a lot of fun (not).

I believe most rides initially test with all nylon wheels which run faster and much louder than polyurethane wheels. That might be why you've noticed the sound differences. I think once the ride breaks in more, they swap some of the nylons out for poly wheels.

I really don't think the trim cuts off as much speed as you think. The trim may not have even been activated on the test run. The helix comes directly after the airtime hill-- helices shave off a lot more speed than hills, combined with the fact that this helix is absolutely massive. Is it possible that the trim is there to act like a sensor? Perhaps once the train passes the trim the next train can be dispatched without E-stopping the train on the lift? The trim looks like it didn't do much, and is probably only there if the ride is really hauling. I think Fury 325 is gonna be a huge hit for Carowinds. It's important to remember that while enthusiasts love i305, the general public find it incredibly intense. I'm going to assume a train can be dispatched as soon as the previous train clears the lift hill just like any other B&M. I doubt the trim was turned on for the first test run. Most rides run trim less on their first test runs. Either way I don't think the trim will greatly impact the ride. I really hope I can ride this this summer!!

Batman the Ride at GADV in 2005. I was just tall enough to ride.

^ Lol. I think it's so that guests have to walk through the Boardwalk Area which is filled with games and restaurants tempting everyone to spend money.

The park map for the season is up https://www.sixflags.com/sites/default/files/sfgad_fullmap.pdf. Unfortunately, it looks like path between Plaza and the GK will remain closed. #bummer